Finding Stardust (Princess Of Akkadia)

Chapter 20 - Please, Don't Leave Me

By saying she had a headache, Emma hurriedly excused herself to her room, leaving Haoran in the elevator. The young man could only nod in agreement.

"Good night, Stardust," he said as he waved his hand toward her. Emma only turned her head once and nodded. She then entered her room. As soon as the door closed behind her, Emma took a deep breath.

Finally, she's alone. The clock showed that it's already 10 PM. The sun was setting in the west, and the night arrived. Emma watched the horizon on the balcony of her room and waited until it became completely dark. She would use her power to fly like the night before when she woke up on the top of the Eiffel Tower.

Emma hoped that when she flew, flashes of memories of her parents would come back. She really missed them. As she thought of her parents' faces, Emma suddenly remembered that she took a picture of their sketch with her cellphone. It had the images of her father and mother that was drawn by Mr. Neville.

Emma pulled her cellphone out of her bag. She stared at the picture with a deep longing in her eyes.

"Where are you, Father, Mother..." she whispered. Slowly, a few drops of tears fell on the screen of her cellphone, blurring the image. She wiped her tears as well as the phone's screen with the fabric of her dress.

She realized she's still wearing the elegant summer dress. Certainly, it wouldn't be practical for her to wear a dress when she's testing her power of flight. She then opened her suitcase and grabbed a pair of creme shorts, a white t-shirt, and a pair of sneakers.

After changing her outfit, she walked back to the balcony and saw the city outside had become completely dark. There were only small lights that adorned various buildings around the hotel. If she flew quickly, no one would notice her. She scanned the streets under the balconies of her room. Somehow, her vision became clearer, even under minimum lighting. Then, she checked her surroundings, left and right, to make sure there's no one on the balcony on either side.

After making sure that no one would see her, Emma immediately closed her eyes, and naturally, her mind ordered herself to fly.

Not long after, her body slowly lifted and shot up into the sky toward the Eiffel Tower. According to her, this was one of the safest places to go because of its height.

However, on the way to the Eiffel Tower, her eyes caught sight of the roof over the beautiful Notre Dame cathedral. There was no lighting there, so Emma changed her mind.

'Notre Dame's roof could also be a good choice,' she thought, because at this hour the place was very quiet and no one would notice her presence. Emma finally decided to land on the roof-top of the Notre Dame church and try her powers there.

With graceful movements like a butterfly, she landed on the top of the church's roof. Emma was impressed with her own abilities. She didn't think she could control this power of flight easily.

The atmosphere was very dark and no one paid attention to the roof of the church. The girl sat on the roof-top and looked around.

"Ahh... Mother, Father... You can fly like me too, can't you? Did I get all of these abilities from you both?" Emma whispered to the wind as if her parents were there, next to her.

Suddenly, a flash of memories appeared before her. Emma was right in thinking that the flashes of memories of her parents would return if she used her powers.

She saw Arreya Stardust holding her husband's hand tightly with tears streaming down her cheeks. The beautiful woman, whose pair of topaz eyes always glowed in happiness, now looked devastated. Kaoshin tried to calm her down by squeezing her hand gently. But his hoarse, trembling voice couldn't hide his broken heart.

"This is for the best, Princess Arreya. If you don't lock her memory, Emma won't be able to live a normal life like an ordinary human child. She mustn't know who she is. It'll make her very sad. We must do this for her own good," the man coaxed his wife while trying hard to hold back his own tears.

"Maybe they'll pardon Emma"—Arreya looked into her husband's eyes with a pleading look—"I'll beg forgiveness for Emma and sacrifice my life."

"The Crown Prince will not spare Emma, you know that, Princess." Kaoshin pulled Arreya to his chest, hugged her tight, and finally shed tears that he had been holding back for a long time. "I'll take all the blame. But you can't sacrifice yourself for Emma's life. They won't spare her. You know that."

"Can't we go back to the moon and use our capsule to escape to another planet? We can go far away from here." Arreya broke free from her husband's embrace. She was shocked to find tears flowing down on the man's cheeks. "General Kaoshin... are you... crying?"

"This is all my fault," the man said in a hoarse voice. "I shouldn't have persuaded you to run away the night before your wedding to the Crown Prince."

Arreya shook her head. "No... don't you dare take all the blame on your shoulders. IT WAS ME, who controlled everyone's mind so that they all fell into a deep sleep, so we could run away! I exerted all my power until I got injured and lost my memory for a long time. It's not your fault. I was the one who pushed you to elope with me, General Kaoshin Stardust!"

"Please, Princess, only you can lock Emma's memory and make her forget about us. They shouldn't know about her existence."

Kaoshin let go of his wife then crouched down before little Emma, who looked so confused.

"Father..." The little girl cried and tried to hug her father's neck. "Please, don't leave me..."

"I've never used my magic to lock a child's memory," Arreya said in a hoarse voice. "I'm not sure it'll work."

"Nevertheless, we must try it. The rest, we'll leave Emma to fate. She's a good child. I'm sure people will treat her with kindness." Kaoshin lifted the little Emma and brought her to his wife. "Please, Princess Arreya..."

Arreya finally gave in and obeyed her husband's request. She placed her right hand on the little Emma's forehead and Arreya closed her eyes.

Little Emma cried. She didn't know what her mother was doing, but she's scared and sad at her parents' devastated faces. She felt that her parents would leave her.

"Father! Mother! Please don't leave me!" cried Emma in a pitiful voice. She buried her face with her two hands and sobbed. The birds perching on the Notre Dame Cathedral's roof-top were startled to hear her voice and flew with a loud noise.

Emma cried so poignantly until her tears were dry, and she could no longer shed any more tears. She finally remembered what had happened thirteen years ago when her father and mother had left her in front of the orphanage. They kissed her and hugged her lovingly, then locked her memory and left her alone.

They left her to protect her.